Protest to decry ‘use of Bases to support Israeli operations in Gaza’ (Updated)

A protest is being organised against the Sovereign British Bases in Cyprus and their use in running what organisers call military operations out of the island to Gaza, it was announced on Friday.

The Cyprus Peace Council said the protest will take place outside the military base in Akrotiri next Sunday, January 14, at 11am.

“The demonstration is being organised in response to the support provided by the British military bases to the Israeli army’s bombing of Gaza,” the group said.

The organisers called on everyone to join the demonstration to condemn the air strikes being carried out from the British bases and to transport war materials to support the Israeli army’s operations in the Gaza strip.

“We convey the message that we are struggling to make Cyprus a bridge of peace and cooperation between peoples. The Cypriot people do not want British military bases in their country. They represent a constant danger to our country and to the peoples of the region. That is precisely why we demand their closure.

“We denounce the illegal presence of the US military in our country,” it added.

Reports previously in Cyprus and on UK websites had suggested that military operations were being run out of the British bases in Cyprus.

A few weeks ago, a report, which was on UK Declassified citing Haaretz newspaper in Israel, said that the US was using Akrotiri to supply arms to Israel in the continuing attack on Gaza, following the Hamas attack on Israel last month.

Both Nicosia and London denied that the Sovereign Base Areas (SBA) on the island are being used as a conduit for weapons transfers to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. But the UK government’s reluctance to provide any information as to what materiel is in fact being airlifted to Israel via Akrotiri, while neither proving nor disproving the proposition, appears to leave the matter an open question.

Ahead of the protest for mid-January, another protest will be held at the old port in Limassol at 2pm this Sunday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.